 CHRIS HUGHTON admitted today that he “could not guarantee” his side will not be further decimated by outgoing transfers by the time the Magpies travel to West Brom on Saturday. The Toon caretaker boss hinted he had been kept in the dark regarding transfers and accepted he was “powerless” when it come to signing new faces at Gallowgate. With Obafemi Martins now history at St James’s Park, Hughton was forced to head north of the border without unsettled pair Habib Beye and Sebastian Bassong, who both want to quit United. Bassong’s representatives jetted into Newcastle today to try to plot the unhappy Frenchman’s escape from Tyneside and it is expected he will hand in a written transfer request by the end of the week if the club do not accept initial offers from Manchester City and West Ham this week, with Tottenham also in the hunt. The Chronicle understands that Hull City are also looking to prise Beye – who missed the trip to Dundee United due to a hip injury – away from United with a £2.5m bid and a bumper pay deal to try to land the Senegal international. Bassong was subject to interest from Spurs with reports that they had bid £10m for the centre-back. But Hughton told the Chronicle: “Seb and Habib were always going to miss Dundee United – Seb is suspended for West Brom and Habib has a hip problem. “But we have lost Oba, who has obviously gone to Wolfsburg. “In all honesty my thoughts were all on the game with Dundee. “And the first I knew of the bid for Seb was when I saw it at the team hotel on TV. “It was news to me then and I am not expected to talk to anybody from the club until later today, I will talk to Derek Llambias, I don’t know any of the facts. “Oba has gone and it is a shame to lose a talented player. “He offered us pace and directness up front and it is always a blow to lose what you regard as a better player. “I do not know whether I will lose any more players before West Brom. “I’m working on a day to day basis and I really don’t know if more will go. “Oba has gone and at this moment, irrespective of speculation, everybody else is still here and fit to play. “Whether anybody else is going, I really don’t know.” Hughton’s resources were stretched at Tannadice yesterday with Beye and Bassong missing, with the ex-Marseille skipper in Paris to see a specialist while Bassong didn’t travel to Scotland. | 
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